A special NIA court has framed charges against Babbar Khalsa International militant Kulwinderjeet Singh Khanpuria and three others for waging the war against the government. Khanpuria is believed to have fled to Malaysia and has been declared a proclaimed offender. Apart from Khanpuria, the other three accused are Ravinderpal Singh, Jagdev Singh and Harcharan Singh. The court fixed April 9 as the next date for hearing the case. In May last year, Punjab Police had arrested three accused —Ravinderpal, Jagdev and Harcharan Singh — on the charges of allegedly carrying out terror attacks in Punjab. The police had alleged that the accused were planning to disturb the peace in the state. Khanpuria was alleged to have conspired to carry out the terror acts. On Tuesday, charges were framed under sections 121 (waging war against Government of India), 121-A, 122 (Collecting arms, etc., with intention of waging war), 123 (Concealing with intent to facilitate design to wage war ) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), Sections 17, 18, 38 and 39 of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and Section 25 of the Arms Act. The court observed that since the challan against another accused Nishan Singh was not presented yet, as such, he is ordered to be discharged for the time being.
